Cyprus Community of Melbourne

The organization of Cypriots in Australia started to become a necessity around the late 1920s, mainly when Cypriots began leaving the rural areas in search of work and a better lifestyle in the urban centers of Australia.  This shifting of population prompted the creation of permanent action centres which were reinforced by a series of other events and circumstances, in their homeland of Cyprus

The forerunner of the Cyprus Community in Melbourne was “Zinon” which was founded in 1932.  The organization of Cypriots into Brotherhoods were one of the first forms of organization of Greeks in Australia.

The foundation of the Cypriot Brotherhood “Zinon” in Melbourne was the result of the call for cooperation and coordination of the Cypriot community forces in Australia for a better social life among the 60 or so Greek Cypriots who were then living in Melbourne, Bendigo and Williamstown.  An interesting comparison to the estimated 44,000 Cypriots and 350,00 Greeks of today in Melbourne and Victoria. The first meeting took place in the house of  Miltiadis,  Floros Dimitriadis’s father, where it was decided that a dinner dance be organized.